Effect of spinal cord removal before or after splitting and washing on CNST decontamination of beef carcasses

Beef carcasses were examined to explore the effects of spinal cord removal and washing on central nervous system tissue (CNST) decontamination of the surface during the slaughtering process. A total of 15 carcasses were split by sawing centrally down the vertebral column and left sides of split carcasses were used for analysis. Samples were collected by swabbing the surface from 4 defined parts on the interior and 4 on the exterior of carcasses from the abattoir and analyzed using an ELISA-based test. The results showed that automatic and manual spray washing decreased CNST contamination, especially on the interior ventral parts of carcass surfaces (p < 0.01), but did not decrease CNST on the interior dorsal parts. Increasing washing time to 60 s did not affect the reduction of CNST contamination. Samples following spinal cord removal prior to splitting showed lower calculated levels of "risk material" than the stated limit of detection (0.1%) of the ELISA kit on interior and exterior carcass parts (p < 0.01). Therefore, spinal cord removal prior to splitting could be a very effective way to minimize CNST contamination of beef carcasses.